Guilford Student Survives Hit and Run: Ten Years Later

ROCKFORD (WIFR) -- It's been nearly a decade since 14-year-old Kory Kallenbach, a freshman at Guilford High School, was hit by a car and left to die near the entrance to Rock Cut State Park.

Fast-forward to 2012 and new developments have finally arisen.

Kory is now 24 years old and he's suffered through 38 surgeries, but what hurts more than the physical pain is the thought that whoever hit him ten years ago is still out there.

According to FBI reports from the accident, police found two paint chips and five small plastic car parts. That was enough evidence to prove Kory was hit by a white Dodge Ram truck made at a Chrysler plant in Fenton, Missouri between 1998 and 2001. That hasn't been enough to track down a suspect and Kory's mom says she doesn't understand why not.

Mindy Dal Santo, the victim’s mother, said "when my son asks me a question like ‘Mom why aren't the police looking into this, why is my case closed, what about this?’, it's very hard to answer those questions to him."

Police say the case was never closed, but they had no leads until recently when a man came forward saying he had new evidence. Since then the Loves Park Police Department has been sorting through the case, even interviewing retired officers who investigated the accident ten years ago.

Q: What about the statute of limitations? Has it expired?

A: Unfortunately, yes. Even if police find out who did this, they can't charge them with fleeing from the scene of an accident, but police aren't giving up because they say Kory deserves the closure of knowing who's responsible.

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